


Fearful, Fascinating

by Canaan



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: AU, Hurt/Comfort, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-14
Updated: 2011-01-14
Packaged: 2017-10-14 18:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/152224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Canaan/pseuds/Canaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack staggers into the TARDIS on the Doctor's heels.  His nerves are still on fire from a Dalek weapon he'd swear should've killed him, and he's panting and wheezing from his frantic rush to reach his partners on a station empty except for corpses and dust.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fearful, Fascinating

**Author's Note:**

> Written for WendyMR as a gift for Fandom Stocking 2010. This is not part of any of my existing continuities. It's stand-alone AU at the end of tPotW.

Jack staggers into the TARDIS on the Doctor's heels. His nerves are still on fire from a Dalek weapon he'd swear should've killed him, and he's panting and wheezing from his frantic rush to reach his partners on a station empty except for corpses and dust. The Doctor's got Rose cradled in his arms, and Jack doesn't for a minute imagine she'd put up with that if something weren't very wrong. "Doctor!" he gasps. "Rose . . . ?"

"She'll be fine, lad," the Doctor manages slowly, looking around the console room like he doesn't quite know where he is. Jack circles past Rose's feet so he can look for himself. She doesn't look hurt, but she's not conscious. The Doctor, on the other hand, might still be standing, but the lines of his body are taut with pain. "Just going to put her down a minute," he says, and starts to bend toward the floor with his burden.

"Bed, Doctor," Jack suggests, making use of the fast return switch. The Daleks are gone--any mopping-up can wait till the Doctor isn't swaying on his feet, and no matter where Rose lives, it can't be as creepy as staying on the Game Station has become. "Whatever happened, she won't be any happier for waking up on the grating."

The Doctor grunts, then straightens up. Jack shadows him down the corridor, watching for signs of imminent collapse, and breathes a sigh of relief when the first door on the right proves to be a bedroom--even if it's not one he recognizes. The Doctor maneuvers through the doorway, waiting while Jack draws down the counterpane as the door closes behind them. Rose ends up settled on the bed, and Jack motions the Doctor to join her, but the Time Lord resists. He turns, wincing as if the light hurts his eyes, and then takes careful hold of Jack's arms. "Somethin' I need you to understand, Jack," he says urgently.

"It can wait," Jack says.

"No, it really can't. Jack, there's this thing Time Lords do when we die--well, not die, 's more like cheating death. Regenerate, but not the same." He forces a grin and Jack stares, waiting for him to start making sense. "Won't have this daft old face anymore. Perhaps the ears'll come out better next time, anyway."

"I like your ears," Jack says.

The Doctor draws him close, hugs him briefly, and then releases him, backing away. "What I mean to say is, no need to panic. Might be a tad scary from the outside, but I'll still be me--no, stay there," he says as Jack starts to follow. "Could be dangerous."

"Doctor . . . ?" Rose says, levering herself toward a seated position. Jack moves to help her. "What happened? There was this singing . . . are they gone?"

"They're gone," the Doctor says, leaning back against the far wall. "You were fantastic--you saved us all."

Rose's eyes narrow, even if she makes no move to get to her feet. "Doctor, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing's wrong. But it's a bit dodgy, this process. Jack'll explain." He grins, but it looks pained.

Rose looks quickly at Jack. Jack swallows. "He'll be fine," he says, wishing he were sure about that. "Doctor-- _what's_ happening? What did you _do_?" The Doctor closes his eyes, pain creasing his brow.

"Jack . . . " Rose says.

"I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex. No one's meant to do that," the Doctor says. His eyes slit open. "Every cell in my body is dying."

The pieces come together, and Jack wraps both arms around Rose as she tries to get to her feet. "Doctor!" she shouts, as their partner goes all to gold and flame, light streaming from his eyes and mouth, obscuring his hands and feet as it explodes from beneath his cuffs, as if his entire body is made from light, held together only by his clothes.

"It's all right, Rose, it's all right," Jack babbles into her ear as she struggles to go to their lover. "He's regenerating. He'll still be him--he'll be okay." _Please let that be true._

Rose is crying. The Doctor slumps back against the wall as the light show dims, and Jack holds his breath. Not the same--no, not the same at all. The body inside the ill-fitting jumper and jacket is even thinner, and the ears aren't nearly so noticeable as the hair. He's pale and looks unwell beneath the scattering of freckles on his cheeks. "Doctor?" Jack asks hesitantly.

The man--Time Lord--blinks a couple of times. "Yes," he agrees, in an accent very much like Rose's. "Oh! New teeth!" He looks vaguely surprised.

Jack hugs Rose tighter for a moment. "Will you be okay here?" he asks quietly.

"Yeah," she lies weakly.

He hugs her again, pretending to believe her. It's only a few steps across the room to this new man in the Doctor's clothes. To _the Doctor_ , which doesn't make any sense at all, except that's what he promised in his own fumbling way. And Jack's seen weirder things, knocking about the galaxy. "You okay, Doc?" he asks, putting on his best good-humored concern.

"Don't call me 'Doc,'" the man snaps reflexively, and Jack grins. He's still their Doctor. Then he groans. "Oh. That was a doozy."

Jack catches him beneath the armpits as he begins to fall. "Hold on, Doctor, just hold on a minute or two." He may be skinnier, but he's still tall, and it takes some doing to maneuver him over to the bed.

"Let me get your coat," Rose says, her voice thin but firm. She drags the bulky thing off the Doctor's frame as Jack helps him sit on the edge of the bed, and then scoots over, pulling the bedclothes back and making room in the middle. Together, they get him into bed. Rose steals his boots and Jack gets a pillow under his head with a minimal number of objections. When they're curled up on both sides of him, they drag the duvet up over them.

"I'm still me, you know," the Doctor mutters, vaguely. He sounds like a man just off a two-day drunk, still uncertain about exactly where his head is. "Just . . . new me."

"I know, Doctor," Rose says, pressing closer to him and draping an arm across his prominent ribs.

Jack presses his face into the hollow where the Doctor's neck meets his shoulder and lays a kiss there. The smell of him is different, but still not human. Still the Doctor, somehow. "We both do," Jack says.

All three of them jump as Rose's phone rings. "Doctor," Rose asks, "where are we?"

The Doctor groans. "I knew I should've stayed in the console room. Jack used the fast return switch. That'll be . . . "

Rose wriggles the phone out of her pocket and looks at the display. She pushes a button and says, "Hi, Mum."


End file.
